Masonry Magazine October 2000 Page. 11
INTERVIEW:
MASONRY HAS A ROLE IN THE
MOVE TOWARD DESIGN/BUILD
By Jeff Buczkiewicz
With the construction industry booming and showing signs of continued expansion, customers are looking for viable alternatives to the traditional design-bid-build, commonly referred to as competitive bid, construction methods that have governed construction for decades. That alternative is called design/build.
Today, design/build projects account for about 35 percent of non-residential construction spending in the U.S., up from 25 percent in 1995 according to the Design Build Institute of America. A clear sign that the trend toward single source project delivery systems is continuing. More and more, construction firms are getting into the fray and partnering on design/build projects. With this rapid pace of firms joining the design/build craze, many worry that the same quality issues that plague traditional competitive-bid will burden design/build.
Owners, however, are still turning to single source construction for improved quality, speed, cost effectiveness, and a single source of responsibility which they don't always find with this relatively new delivery system. As design/build matures, the emphasis will shift from design/build teams being thrown together quickly to pursue individual projects, to a more stable reliance on long term strategic alliances.
Although the trend is toward a greater use of design/build, it is not always the panacea that owners hope for. According to a recent article in the Design Build magazine, in an experiment by Loudoun County VA Schools, the District concluded that design/build was slower on schedule and cost significantly more to build than a more elaborately designed counterpart built with traditional delivery systems.
Regardless of the pitfalls, groups such as the Associated General Contractors and the American Institute of Architects are providing more time at venues such as their annual conventions to educate their members on the benefits of design/build.
Today, there are masonry projects that are built using the design/build delivery system. A light commercial industrial park developed by Barry Deming of Deming Enterprises Inc. based in Northeast Ohio, was built using masonry almost exclusively in their design/build development. Masonry magazine conducted a short interview with Barry Deming on July 17, 2000 to expand on the benefits of building using design/build.
I recently quoted a competitive bid project (a public works building), where I ended up being the low bid out of the five bidders. I was $2,300 under the second place finisher and the entire pack of five were all within $50,000 of one another. My number: $1,236,000. The architect's budget (and the number that he told the poor owner): $550,000 (can you say, "oooppss!!"). This folly, of course, led to all bids being thrown out (wasting everyone's time) and caused the documents to go back and be (monumentally) redesigned. Three months later, a much-downsized project again came out for bid, under another architect's name, and this time, the bids only came in $250,000 over budget (I wasn't low this time). The project again went back for adjustment, came out about 2 months later, but I didn't bid; I simply couldn't waste further time.
YEAH, BUT THAT'S THE WAY WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT...
So if D/B is so great, why are the majority of the construction awards still the result of the competitive-bid process? Well, the answer involves varying elements that range from the desire of the architect to control the construction process to the all-too-human condition of old habits dying hard. It also likely includes the fact that many people still unfortunately judge a "great deal" by low-cost alone. But is it false value? I would submit to you that it is, but like so many other things in life, to make an informed, intelligent decision on whether or not to go with DB, you have to sit down and weigh the good against the bad. So, let's take a look at some of the pros and cons of design/build:
DESIGN/BUILD - PRO
DB fosters a team atmosphere, eliminating the adversarial relationships inherently spawned by competitive-bid scenarios. DB allows for less of a "me versus them" attitude. The owner, architect, and builder make a commitment early on to work together to find solutions... as partners.
Communication problems are reduced as a result of the DB forum being more conducive to open, substantive debate and brain-storming unlike the old "arms-length" competitive-bid process. With greater